MILAN (AP) -- The Italian carmaker Fiat says its acquisition of the final Chrysler stake is complete, making the U.S. car company a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fiat.

Fiat SpA said Tuesday that it closed the deal announced Jan. 1 with the cash payment of $1.75 billion to a union-controlled trust fund. That's on top of an initial $1.9-billion payment, which was arranged through a special distribution from Chrysler. Fiat also made the first installment on an additional $700 million payment. Continue reading...

More than 90 million tons of counterfeit and substandard goods were confiscated last year, and 1,260 criminal networks smashed, the official Xinhua News Agency said, citing Ministry of Public Security official Gao Feng.

Gao also said that during a campaign against the sale of fake drugs online, police seized a record 300 million pills worth 2.2 billion yuan ($360 million). Continue reading...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Intel plans to trim more than 5,000 jobs from its workforce this year in an effort to boost its earnings amid waning demand for its personal computer chips.

The Santa Clara-based company confirmed the job cuts Friday, the day after Intel Corp. reported its profit and revenue had fallen for the second consecutive year.

The purge represents about 5 percent of the roughly 108,000 jobs that Intel had on its payroll at the end of December. The company intends to jettison the jobs without laying off workers, said Intel spokesman Bill Calder. The reductions instead will be achieved through attrition, buyouts and early retirement offers. Continue reading...

AVOS, Switzerland (AP) -- The head of a leading international economic body says the post-crisis period is likely to be a "cut-throat" business as everyone tries to recover the ground lost during the last few years.

Angel Gurria, the secretary-general of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, said Wednesday that "everybody's going to try to recover the jobs they lost, the welfare well-being they lost, the exports they lost and they are going to recover it in the shortest period of time." Continue reading...

NEW YORK (AP) -- Designer Ralph Lauren's new Olympic opening ceremony uniform has lots of stars and stripes. It has lots of red, white and blue. And most importantly, it has a Made in America label.

The new look features a knit patchwork cardigan emblazoned with big stars, an American flag, and the Olympic rings. Underneath, there's a cream cotton turtleneck, white athletic pants, and black leather boots. There's also a wool "reindeer hat"— with braided tassels — also in red, white and blue, of course.

DALLAS (AP) -- Chipmaker Texas Instruments Inc. said Tuesday that it will cut 1,100 jobs worldwide, about 3 percent of its workforce, to trim costs and will reduce its investments in certain markets.

The company said the cuts in its embedded processing unit and in Japan will result in $130 million in annual savings by the end of 2014. The job cuts are in the U.S., India and Japan.

The Dallas-based company also said Tuesday that its fourth-quarter net income nearly doubled as restructuring charges fell and revenue ticked up 2 percent. Continue reading...

Every Friday, we will be rounding up the most popular news items of the week based on site traffic. Feel free to share your thoughts, questions or concerns by sending an email to amy.lawrence@advantagemedia.com.